resources

RESOURCES

The history of thought is littered with supposedly universal and final schemes which have had something good in them, but have failed lamentably in what they claimed. It has become clear that we can indeed aim to correct partiality by balancing one bias against another, but can never assume that we have finally succeeded in becoming universal. Our knowledge does not consist of pure bits of information, but of world-pictures which balance each other and constantly need modification.

— Mary Midgley, from 'Science as Salvation: A Modern Myth and Its Meaning'

Here are resources I access on a regular basis.

Enjoy!

B-CORPORATION A new legal option for businesses now exists. Identifying your business as a certified 'benefits corporation' - B-Corp - means that you your organization is a purpose-driven corporation actively pursuing the triple bottom line (people, planet, profit) to create benefits for all stakeholders (not just shareholders). The good folks at B-Lab, the non-profit behind the B-Corp certification, provide a wealth of information, and analysis, as well as ways to "B the change" and increase the number of corporations operating with the common good in mind.

The Civic Ecology whole systems framework is designed to foster a new social contract that empowers citizens to participate in the making and ‘ownership’ of their community’s resource flows.

— Tim Smith, SERA Architects

GOOD BUSINESS: LEADERSHIP, FLOW AND THE MAKING OF MEANING by Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi shows how to remove some of the strucural and cultural impediments organizations have to finding 'flow' - that quality of presence that gives us great meaning and enjoyment in life. People seek 'flow' through rock climbing, chess, yoga, research and countless other pursuits. This book helps you find it at work.

HOLACRACY is a new social technology tool for exquisite organization. To get a sense of this new way to structure organizations, see this two minute intro video. HolacracyOne, the company that came up with this method and provides Holacracy coaching to those wanting to try it, has some fairly amazing transparency - they allow people to explore their organizational structure. You can see the GlassFrog software that supports the evolving structure, and get a sense of how a holacratic structure operates in a real organization.

THE SYSTEMS VIEW OF LIFE: A UNIFYING VISION by Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi is new text offering a great overview of the theory of living systems, and what that theory means to our human community. Here is an excerpt from the book description on Frijof Capra's website:

The authors present a coherent systemic framework that integrates the biological, cognitive, social, and ecological dimensions of life. They believe that it will be critical for present and future generations of young students and researchers to understand this new systemic conception of life and its implications for a broad range of professions — from the life sciences to economics, management, politics, medicine, psychology, and law. 

— from http://fritjofcapra.net/bibliography.html

ZEN HABITS is a minimalist blog focusing on 'Getting Things Done' (GTD)-style productivity in alignment with a minimalist aesthetic and your life goals. Offering several ebooks (I use Zen To Done in my organizational system), classes, and numerous blog posts on breathing, exercise, systems to keep you organized, and especially habit creation to support all these worthy endeavors, Zen Habits is a wealth of meaningful information and tools to create the life you want.